Back in the Saddle

by Maggie Eckersley

Saddle up for love…

Fans of Lyla Sage, Paisley Hope and Elsie Silver will devour this perfect small town cowboy romance. Preorder now!

Saddle up for love…

Caroline swears she’s done with love. Fleeing her Scottish homeland with a broken heart for fresh start in Oklahoma is supposed to be smooth riding – until a whisky-soaked night at a local bar leads to a smouldering kiss with a devastatingly handsome cowboy. Hunter’s charm stirs something wild in her, awakening desires she thought she’d buried for good after her divorce.

Hunter has no time for distractions. With his family’s ranch on the line, he has enough on his plate. But then he meets Caroline, a sultry, sharp-tongued, whip-smart doctor. Their chemistry is electric, their connection undeniable – and that kiss? Unforgettable.

As their worlds collide, Caroline and Hunter find themselves drawn together in a whirlwind of passion and longing. But both are tied to the past and neither is ready to let go.

Can they hold the reins steady, or will they call it quits before the dust settles?

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Cowboy Romance, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Small Town Romance, Audiobook

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2025

About the author

Maggie Eckersley is a Polish romance author living in Scotland with her husband and two terriers. She had moved to the UK when she was 19 years old and fell in love. She isn’t sure if it was more with her favourite person who she ended up marrying or the country itself. Maybe a little bit of both. When Maggie isn’t daydreaming about the next love story she wants to type out, she’s studying Medicine or working as a medical writer. Her weaknesses are great books, food, and single malt whisky. She has a bucket list of Scottish Castles’ and she will never pass a chance to visit historical landmarks. In 2023, Maggie won I Am In Print Award for the book that became Back in the Saddle. In 2024, she has been shortlisted in I Am In Print Romance competition and longlisted in Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize with another contemporary romance novel.

Reviews

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, we need a moment for this cover - it is absolute perfection.

A divorce doctor and a cowboy saddle up in this sweet but emotional romance!

What’s to love…
- STEM (MD currently working as cancer researcher) FMC
- divorced FMC + younger MMC
- small-town romance
- slow burn
- packs an emotional punch
- chemistry 🔥
- emotional

What’s not to love…
- the pacing was my biggest issue with this. At times we were chugging along, others it felt slower than molasses, and the ending was quite rushed.
- there was a bit too much miscommunication for my taste.

🌶️ - Only a few explicit scenes starting around ch 29. Honestly the proper/technical terms really through me off in this one.

Thank you to Avon for the gifted eARC. All opinions are my own.

3.5⭐️| IG | TikTok |

[Anila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.75⭐️

I just realized this is like my fourth cowboy romance in the last four week. I don’t think this was my favorite of the ones I’ve read recently but it was fine.

There is an instant attraction and connection between Hunter and Caroline. They were cute together. I adored the banter between them right off the bat. They had great chemistry and I loved how they helped each other grieve, heal and move on from their past trauma.

I did have some issues with the book though. I found that the writing could sometimes be too simplistic and straightforward for my tastes. It just didn’t flow naturally and was kind of robotic at times. There was a lot of awkward dialogue, especially in the last third of the book as well.

While I liked Hunter and Caroline together, they had a tendency to be very frustrating leads. The amount of miscommunication between them really killed this book for me quite honestly. Their reunion at the end after the third act breakup was so lacklustre too. I needed more.

But all in all, this was like a comfort read for me and I enjoyed it. I think it helped that I read it over several days instead of in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[ReneeReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is advertised for "Fans of Lyla Sage, Paisley Hope and Elsie Silver" which aside from the cover, is the main reason I was drawn to this book. While I think there are some similarities between these authors and this book, for me it wasn't enough. This book was ok, but for me it was missing that something special that made it great. I can't quite put my finger on why this one wasn't a 4 or 5 star read for me except that it seemed a bit bland? Although, I hate saying that because I did feel for both of the main characters with their family issues and of course there was good character progression, I just didn't feel very connected to this one. The overall story was cute though.

I will also say that the digital formatting for the ARC was terrible and made it hard to follow along.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK | Avon for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Maggie Eckersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much for the interest in reading Caroline and Hunter's love story! 🥹🩷🫶🏻

I wanted to take this opportunity to say that as much as it's a fun and sassy contemporary romance, it's also a raw, heartfelt journey through grief and heartbreak. All the heavier elements are integral to the plot, driving the ending for both characters. Caroline and Hunter have been through a lot already when you meet them; then, they go through even more separately on page.

Yes, it's a love story. They'll get their happy ending. But before they get there, there's a lot of heartache, loss and tears. I wanted to tell a vulnerable side of starting over and how amid external struggles pushing in, two people can still find their joy. Because broken hearts still beat and are capable of recovering.

The full list of content considerations is available on my website. Grief and cancer are the biggest ones.


https://www.maggieeckersleyauthor.com...

[elizabeth rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the Saddle is a heartfelt, emotionally charged small-town cowboy romance full of longing, second chances, and slow-burn chemistry—and one unforgettable whisky-fuelled kiss. 🐎💋🌾

Caroline is everything I love in a romance heroine: whip-smart, fiercely competent in her role as a doctor, and emotionally guarded in a way that felt real and relatable. Watching her attempt a fresh start in Oklahoma after a painful divorce gave the story real emotional weight. I also loved seeing an older female lead who knows who she is and doesn’t fall easily.

Hunter is the broody, burdened cowboy with a soft heart he pretends not to have—and the “I don’t have time for this” energy that makes it so satisfying when he catches feelings. Their dynamic had grumpy-sunshine vibes, with delicious tension simmering beneath every conversation.

✨ Highlights for me:
• A heroine who’s smart, skilled, and unapologetically strong
• Cowboy + doctor? Highly underrated combo
• Gorgeous, moody Oklahoma ranch vibes

There were moments where I wished for deeper dives into both characters’ emotional pasts, but overall, this was a warm, satisfying read—with just enough angst, heart, and steam to keep me turning the pages.

And the cover? Absolutely stunning. Total shelf candy. 😍

[Camilla Isley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cowboy romance with brains, bruises, and a breathtaking healing journey.

[Kelsey Rhodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars! I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I was drawn to the cover and the premise sounded cute, so I figured let's see what happened. I'm so glad I did. This book was so sweet and sassy and can rival the Lyla Sage and Elsie Silver books out there. I am a sucker for COMPETENT FMCs and having Caroline be a bad-a** doctor was amazing to read. It makes complete sense why Hunter couldn't get enough of her. Desperately waiting for another book from this author.

[pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf @/22% sorry, I really tried, I must’ve yeed all my haws.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC, but I just couldn’t force myself to finish it.

The cover is gorgeous, and when I saw it, I was like “they must let me get my hands on it.” And they did, but then everything took the wrong turn.

First of all, I don’t know if it’s the common issue, but my epub had random breaks in text as if I got one of the drafts and the breaks were caused by comments/notes? idk they seemed like broken hyperlinks with timestamps and that made reading distracting and off-putting.

I couldn’t bring myself to care for the main characters. There’s nothing special about them. They met at a basic bar/pub, they had a basic conversation about whisky, and they shared a basic kiss that apparently shook their worlds but it did not transfer off the page and into my brain. There was nothing special about it, and I couldn’t bring myself to believe what the author was trying to tell me rather than show me.

Caroline as a character seemed very immature and so did the way she went about the kiss.

Hunter (terrible name imo but I digress) is some sort of (former) fuckboy ready to settle down with the right woman, but honestly, I didn’t believe in his Casanova past. Also would like him to change throughout the book as he gets to know Caroline more rather than be changed in an instant by the magical kiss.

The plot also moved very slowly. I read a little bit over 20%, and the part failed to deliver romance. Caroline and Hunter interacted and talked to and about like three thousand people. Was all that really necessary? To introduce and give a backstory all colleagues, exes, cousins, neighbours, and who-not. I don’t need to know everyone’s business, and it was really overwhelming. Especially when compared to the romance part which was barely existant in the first 1/5 of the book.

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the Saddle by Maggie Eckersley

I am absolutely in love with this cover! It was what drew me to the book immediately, alongside the promise of horses, as I'm an avid rider myself.

There are definitely some things I really enjoyed about this book. I really appreciated that both our main characters (Hunter and Caroline) had their own lives, dreams and challenges which are explored throughout and, therefore, it doesn't fall into the trap that many romance books do of the love story being all consuming. The exploration of cancer and the grief of losing a loved one to this terrible disease was really sensitively, respectfully and cleverly done. It is clear the author either has personal experience with cancer or has done extensive research on the topic as the way it was written came across as factual, realistic and empathetic. Reading about Hunter's dad and his struggle was heartbreaking, as was hearing about Caroline's mother's experience, and this really highlighted not only how common cancer is, but how much it affects not just those with it but everyone around them for the rest of their lives. I had tears in my eyes reading about Alan's death speach and his funeral.

I liked that Caroline was an intelligent woman with ambitions and who knew what she wanted in life. A lot of romance novels unfortunately write women who are solely there to be future wives or are written only to drive the plot, yet I appreciated that the author spent time to craft Caroline into a full-formed character with multiple levels and a clear personality. Her backstory, with her mother's death leading to her becoming a doctor, her failed marriage, her worries about her career, all added up to making her an interesting female main character that I did actually quite enjoy reading about. I also appreciated that her marriage with Finn was complex, and it wasn't just your typical "my ex husband is horrible" story, but something more deep and I found this interesting to read about; I'm sure it explores feelings and concerns that many who are married may relate to. However, Hunter's backstory was less conceptualized and felt more rushed. I found it a bit unrealistic that he went from an unfeeling fuckboy to wanting to settle down and get into a serious relationship after one whiskey-driven kiss in a bar; it would have felt better and more realistic if his feelings changed slowly over the course of his growing relationship with Caroline. I loved Hunter's family, and the dynamic between them was really heartwarming, but there was a lot of details about Hunter's past that felt underdeveloped (like him wanting to be a vet, then suddenly changing his mind at the end with no real explanation of why) or under explored (like the death of his ex-fiance, which is brought up at the very end but with very little information given so it feels a bit like it was added as an after-thought). I really liked Hunter's relationship with Mitch, though, and how this was written. The quote "Most men didn't talk about their feelings. Or that's what society liked to believe," makes an interesting point on male friendships and I liked that it showed two men who are open, honest and emotionally intimate with one another without seeing it as a weakness.

I found the pacing of this book a little off. The start was very slow and, although it did pick up at certain points, there were times when it felt really drawn out and I just lost interest. For example, there is a lot of unnecessary dialogue and unnecessary characters involved in this book; why we have to know about Amira from work having a crush on Jake for example... in fact Amira as a character probably could have been left out entirely. Then, the pacing became very fast towards the end, to the point it felt like the author was rushing to get it all on the page and it felt like a really weird contrast to the rest of the book. It would have been better to have spent less time talking about the unnecessary things mentioned above and more time focusing on the outcome of the character's love story and their respective lives; for example, the scenes depicting Finn's illness and Caroline's move back to Scotland felt very forced and could have benefitted from more time to really delve into the events and the effects on Caroline. The pacing was probably my main issue with this book. I did also take a smaller issue with the fact that I kept getting frustrated with the characters for not voicing their true feelings, hiding their emotions from one another and overall just not being honest and communicating well with one another which led to more disagreements or misunderstandings than was necessary in their relationship. Furthermore, I was disappointed there was less focus on horses, riding or the ranch setting to be honest, as I did feel that a book with this cover and title should include more equestrian themes than just mentions of horses, a bull-riding show and a couple rides... and then to sell the ranch at the end just made me slightly annoyed.

I appreciated that this was a romance book that actually had a plot and characters who felt real, with real lives, rather than it just being 300 pages of pure smut, which isn't my kind of thing. There are very few overly sexual scenes in this book, and the focus is placed more on their emotional intimacy whilst also still showing how physically connected they are without it being too explicit, which is more my kind of thing than smut. Although, I have to say that the really factual, almost medical terms used during these sexual scenes did throw me off a bit as it's not something I've seen before in a romance book, yet this isn't necessarily a really bad thing, just something that made me pause and think "wow... uh okay".

Overall I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was a reasonably enjoyable read, but the pacing was off and the writing was a bit dry in terms of it didn't have anything really exciting to draw me in and felt a bit robotic at times. There are definitely things I liked about the story, but overall it was pretty average and there are certainly things I would change if I could. Thank you to Maggie Eckersley and Netgalley for the ARC.

[Maddie Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75/5! Not a bad “cowboy” romance, but doesn’t even come close to Lyla Sage or Elsie Silver.. thought it was kind of interesting that she was a Glasgow trained doctor who decided to uproot her life (mid medical school) to live with her aunts in Oklahoma, where she meets the MMC, but it was a fun time and nothing too deep!

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had all the ingredients to make it a good book but unfortunately it felt like it was just shaken up and the writing was just thrown in there without much thought or depth.

This in no way is a cowboy romance. To be honest, there’s maybe like a tiny bit of romance and the rest is just trauma as well as grief. Like too much trauma. It’s rather unfortunate because I think of maybe one traumatic event was taken out, it could have balanced out the book better.

The writing left a lot to be desired as it didn’t flow well together or add much depth to the main characters. I’m still very confused as to why the whole situation between Caroline and Finn (on their honeymoon) even happened and why she stuck it out with him for so long. It was just weird.

I didn’t buy the romance between Caroline and Hunter. Their chemistry lacked and even the spicy scenes were so clinical in terminology that I felt I was about to be quizzed. I give those scenes 1 🌶️ out of 5.

Overall, the potential is there and I’m sure it will resonate with a reader. It just wasn’t for me. Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Maggie Eckersley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh, cry, and feel all the emotions. It's written with such empathy and care, while also being an incredibly hot and sexy romance. My favorite romance reads are ones where the love interests grow/develop separately beyond merely falling in love, so I appreciated that both Caroline and Hunter grapple with their careers, grief, and past relationships with fully realized arcs of their own. I never considered myself a cowboy fan before this book, but by the end I was head over heels for Hunter!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Emily G]

Unfortunately not for me.

Story definitely had potential, and it might be good as a light quick read, but unfortunately I struggled to connect.

The pacing felt off, there was a bombardment of information and characters introduced that lacked emotion and the relationship between our 2 MCs felt clinical. The multiple-trauma dumping of main and side characters came from nowhere and didn’t sit right with me. It didn’t feel like a cowboy romance in the slightest.

Thankyou to the publisher for an earc in exchange for an honest review.

[Book Boyfriend · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect this book to break me the way it did. I was up at 4 this morning shedding tears as my heart was hurting for these characters. I have never heard of this author or this book. I only learned about this from a friend after she sent it to me saying she bought it. Once I read and learned the setting was in Oklahoma I knew I had to get it. I am so glad I purchased and read this. Even if I never read another book by this author I'll always be thankful for this one. It was healing reading this.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been waiting for a cowboy romance where the FMC is British and has moved to Cowboy central in the US and this is it!!! I was so excited and this didn't disappoint. An emotional read but still with some great cowboy spice. Spoiler but FYI for readers as a trigger warning this does contain a theme of Cancer so might be a difficult read if something you are currently dealing with IRL.

[Yasmin Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me laughing and crying!! And God cost feel good about love kinda of book
Trigger warnings - loss and cancer

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first below 4 star review and I kind of want to cry because I had so much hope for Caroline and Hunter. For someone else, it might be a 5 star review! For me, it was alright. I was disappointed when it was marketed as “for fans of Elsie silver, Lyla Sage and Paisley Hope” because those felt like big shoes to fill, but this missed the mark. So let’s break it down.

What I enjoyed -
•the meetcute was fantastic and laid a solid plot. It felt a little insta lovey but I fall in love with every person who glances at me in smiles so I have no room to judge that.
•Caroline’s profession in stem! I love me a smart woman. Her love for her field and research was so evident and made me root for her as she sought to find her niche in the medical field. And her interaction with Yolanda was so telling of her character.
•the Oklahoma rep!! Driving through this section of OK since I was born, I loved seeing the rep in a romance. Long overdue IMHO.
•Hunter’s dedication to his family. Again, check tw’s but my man hunter is a family man and we stan!!

Where I struggled -
•lacking communication. Multiple times they held back telling each other very significant things that caused stress in their relationship. It felt a little immature and off putting for me.
•the spice- like it was good but the continual use of technical terms kept throwing me off.
•the writing. Again, it’s a debut and felt a little stiff and simplistic to me at times.
•the 3rd person POV- maybe it’s because I’ve been deep in my dual 1st person POV but it felt so awkward to read from this pov
•the arc formatting. Idk what happened there but it had chapters starting mid page and made the pacing seem weird…. So hoping that’s fixed by pub day or just an arc issue

Overall it was fine, and the story had solid bones, it just fell flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK | Avon for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this debut from British author Maggie Eckersley. A soon to be divorced Scottish doctor travels to Oklahoma for a work exchange and ends up falling for the broken hearted cowboy she only wanted a no strings affair with. I loved the emotional depth of this story that involves a FMC with generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks and a male lead whose father is dying from cancer. Full of spice and intimacy, this was a swoony cowboy romance and I loved every second. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

This was a cute cowboy romance about an irish woman who moves to the US for a year after separating from her husband and falls in love with a cowboy.

Although Hunter and Caroline had a cute love story it was just kind of boring. Neither of them were very good at communicating so they kind of went through a pattern of being really sweet and cute and then having some sort of misunderstanding followed by making up again. I just kept getting frustrated by the way they wouldn’t talk about anything and just kept making assumptions. Throughout the whole book you get snippets of the fact that hunter used to be engaged and that something happened but you don’t find out what it was until the end of the book and there was honestly no good reason for him to be keeping it a secret. I feel like this book would’ve been a lot better if the characters would actually talk about their feelings and their plan.

The beginning of this book was also very slow paced so it felt like it was dragging at times. For a lot of it not very much happened. It picks up towards the end and you get a lot more deep and emotional moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon UK for the ARC!

[Shan Cavalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

[Sabrina Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the dynamics between Hunter and Caroline. both coming from troubled pasts made their relationship at times hard to navigate. they stumbled a few times especially into bed 😆 they both love deeply that's plain to see

[emily (bookish_addiction_) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Maggie Eckersley for the advanced copy of Back in the Saddle in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this just fell flat for me. I have read quite a few cowboy romances in my time and I just don't think Back in the Saddle is going to be one that sticks out for me. I found myself having to push through reading and not really being interested in the plot or the characters. I also found the ending to be oddly paced and very rushed.

[Kristen Hammon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don’t let the cover fool you! I DNF about 40% into the book. The writing style had zero depth. I did not connect to either of the characters. You can tell the author isn’t from the US as she uses “you all” instead of “y’all. Hunter’s character just seems off for an American cowboy. The spicy scenes were from a medical textbook.

[Stephanie Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Maggie, I loved this!

We follow heartbroken Caroline, a junior doctor who travels from Scotland to Oklahoma to re-evaluate her life. When one night at a bar, she drunkenly kisses devastatingly handsome Hunter Jackson. Both sworn off love, but when worlds collide, who can resist the temptation?

This is what I love and needed in a ‘Cowboy Romance’. I laughed, I cried with sorrow and happiness. It’s not a light and fluffy read due to heavy themes of illness and disease. It’s an emotional ride with all the feels.

Thankyou Netgalley and Avon Books for the eArc in return for my honest review

[Liz Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 stars, rounded up to 3.

This was a quick and sweet read, but a few fundamental issues kept it from moving from like to love for me.

Hunter and Caroline share an instant spark after a chance meeting. They’re unexpectedly reconnected, and their relationship develops from there—despite an unforgiving timeline. He lives in OKC, and she’s set to return to Scotland after a year.

There were aspects of the book that left me frustrated. The pacing was inconsistent, with several underdeveloped plotlines that were introduced and then seemingly abandoned. One particular distraction was Hunter’s use of British terms—such as calling his mother “mum” and saying he was getting “in the queue.” As an American character, those phrases felt out of place and better suited to Caroline. Additionally, there were too many side characters who appeared and disappeared too quickly to track. They didn’t seem to be included for future setup, which made their presence feel unnecessary.

Overall, this was a perfectly fine and cute read, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the advanced copy.

[Megan Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book brims with heart-melting love and heart-wrenching emotion—a cowboy romance with grit!

[kendall · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the premise of the story seemed interesting - but in no way did this deliver.

The writing for this was very hard to read. Nothing felt consistent , the third person narration removed you from the story, and the details are inconsistent. There are thoughts/phrases in the text no one I know, or care to know, would actually think or act on.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

[Lea · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know how sometimes you read a book that changes you fundamentally? This definitely isn’t that book. “It was one of those reads she had thought of not finishing but decided to push through” literally describes my interaction with it. It’s got plot holes to rival swiss cheese. It’s got characters that fall flatter than bad pancakes at IHOP. It’s got pacing so weird you’ll ask yourself “why? Why did I choose to read this?” and I’m right there with you because I also have a few questions, such as

-has this author ever interacted with a person from Oklahoma or anyone from the Midwest or an American ranching community, EVER? The omission of a single Y’ALL when it was a choice to set the majority of the novel in this part of the US basically warrants jail time. Additionally, please make friends with people that can ingratiate you to our linguistic differences.

-did her editor hate her or did she disregard literally everything a decent editor would ever say? Because it definitely comes off that way.

-why would you choose to have the POV of the character announced at every chapter heading and then WRITE IN THIRD PERSON?

I, as a voracious romance reader, have a lot of issues with this book. I didn’t DNF solely because I wanted to evaluate the entirety of this dumpster fire and what a dumpster fire she was. To be frank, it’s a blessing that I read this in ebook format because if I’d read it as a physical copy or an ARC I would have let it succumb to a cleansing fire while playing Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire.

It said in the summary “for fans of Elsie Silver, Lyla Sage, and Paisley Hope!” and if I was any of those three authors I would sue for defamation.

The entire book felt like the author was trying to do everything (medical! western! death! friends and family bonds with and without definition! distance! what is masculinity when viewed through a hypermasculine framework like the rodeo circuit and western settings!) and by tackling so many things, we accomplished next to nothing. It was easily the most frustrating read I’ve had in YEARS because we’d have a plot point, we’d have characters, and we’d do nothing with that plot point. This book could have been 100 pages shorter, easily. Did she need to still be married? Nope. Did she even need contact with her ex? No. Did we ever get concrete answers as to why they (C+F) broke up? Kinda, but not really.

I don’t think I would’ve written a review to this degree if I hadn’t gone onto the author’s Instagram, seen a post where she said she would write a book in three months where “no one asked her to”. Babe. There was good reason for that. This book was not good. It needed substantial revision. Three months is not a lot of time and you, as a new author with this debut, need more than three months. You say no one is asking? I am asking. I am.

[Shannai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC of Back in the Saddle in exchange for an honest review.

This story had so much potential, and it started off really strong with the way Caroline and Hunter first met. Their meet-cute was genuinely charming, and I particularly enjoyed Hunter’s confidence. Both characters were well-crafted and layered, with real emotional depth. I appreciated how patient Hunter was with Caroline, who was still recovering from her divorce and quite sheltered as a result. I also thought the portrayal of grief was handled well, with Caroline dealing with the loss of her marriage and starting over in a new country, and Hunter coping with the death of his father.

However, there were a few aspects that didn’t quite work for me, which is why I’ve given it a three-star rating. The pacing, in particular, was a bit uneven. At times, the story jumped ahead abruptly, skipping over weeks or even months, which disrupted the flow. These moments often relied on telling that Caroline and Hunter had spent time together, rather than showing their emotional connection developing naturally. For a book with such a slow-burn romance, I think more time spent building their relationship on the page would have added much more impact.

When it came to the intimate scenes, the emotional connection was certainly there, and again, Hunter’s patience and sensitivity were lovely to see, especially for someone so young. But the frequent use of clinical, medical terminology for body parts felt quite jarring. It gave those scenes a tone that reminded me more of a textbook than a romance novel, which took me out of the moment.

Towards the end of the book, Caroline’s ex-husband falls ill, and she drops everything to be by his side. While I understand that she still cared for him deeply, as they were once married and had a lifelong friendship, the way this plot point was introduced felt abrupt and I’m not quite sure what purpose it served in her journey of healing. This decision ultimately led to her cutting Hunter off, even though their relationship hadn’t been clearly defined. Then, a year later, Hunter moves to Aberdeenshire where Caroline has returned and it’s framed as fate. Unfortunately, I struggled to buy into that ending as it felt a little too convenient and rushed to be truly believable.

Overall, Back in the Saddle had all the ingredients for a heartfelt and emotional romance, with two likeable and well-developed protagonists. While I enjoyed many of the individual elements, the pacing and execution let it down slightly for me. That said, there’s a lot of promise in the writing, and I would still be interested in reading more from this author in the future.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not worth the 99p I spent on it. I normally love a cowboy small town romance, but this one was all over the place in the worst way.

Caroline was an annoying FMC and her panic attacks were written with zero depth. The reason why she suddenly panicked when Hunter touched her, even though he was a complete gentleman, was the weakest excuse ever. Her ex-husband just “didn’t like touching her,” which was barely explained either, and somehow she overcame years of touch-aversion in about two paragraphs. It made her reactions feel inconsistent and her character really hard to connect with.

Hunter had potential. He was sweet, grounded, and respectful. Then his dad died and for one random moment he flipped into a “just wants sex” jerk before immediately snapping back into swoony cowboy mode. The whiplash was real.

The timeline was just as messy. Weeks and months were skipped without warning, which made the pacing feel chaotic and the romance even harder to believe. Add in instalove, my least favourite trope, and I was fighting to stay invested.

Also, the mentions of ESMO, ASH, and ASCO gave me unwanted flashbacks to my days in pharmaceutical congresses. Thanks for the PTSD.

Overall, a frustrating and inconsistent read that missed on almost every front.